McCluskey to enter WPIAL Hall of Fame on June 20

May 14, 2008 07:00 pm

— Legendary Farrell High basketball coach Ed McCluskey is a member of the WPIAL’s 2008 Hall of Fame, which was announced this week.
McCluskey coached the Steelers from 1949-77 and holds the record for most WPIAL championships (11) and PIAA titles (7). His won/loss record was 698-185.
The other coaches going in are General Braddock High’s Chuck Klausing and Norwin’s Sheron Watson. Klausing led Braddock to 6 straight WPIAL football titles from 1954-59 and Wat- son led the Norwin girls volleyball team to 15 WPIAL titles and 12 state titles.
The athletes are Swin Cash (McKeesport), Dick Groat (Swissvale), Don Hennon (Wampum), Ron James (New Brighton), Norm Van Lier (Midland), Colleen Rosensteel (Greensburg Central Catholic) and Candy Young (Beaver Falls).
The teams being inducted are the 1967 Ambridge basketball team (27-0), the 1945 Donora football team, and the 1980 Shaler baseball team.
The official being inducted is Cliff Fair and the contributor is former WPIAL executive director Larry Hanley.
This 2nd WPIAL class will be inducted at a banquet June 20 at the Embassy Suites in Moon. The event is open to the public.
In my opinion, longtime Farrell High girls volleyball coach Harriett Morrison and McCluskey should have gone in the first year.
Morrison went 554-59 in leading the Steelerettes to 20 WPIAL titles and 8 PIAA championships.
ä Beginning in the 2008-09 school year, District 10 will pay more money to officials. The decision was made at the D-10 meeting in Sharon last week.
Under the new guidelines, officials will make $63 per varsity game. The amount had been $57. Junior varsity games are $45 and junior high games are $40. There are increases provided for the following two years.
Officials had been working under the suggested guidelines for officials’ fees that were approved in August of 2005. The money was bumped up due to travel costs.
ä Nineteen former Penn State University football players from Lawrence County were honored at the New Englander recently, including 1969 Wilmington High graduate Jeff Behm.
Tom Bradley, the Nittany Lions' defensive coordinator, marred with injuries. Behm owns Behm Photographics in New Wilmington.
ä In my last column, I wrote about Freedom High student John Challis, who is dying of cancer. I mentioned the article that Mike White of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote about him and because of the connection with the Hickory High football team, who agreed to let him play in last year’s finale. Since the article appeared in the PPG, the story went national.
Challis appeared on Dan Patrick's radio show on FOX, ESPN is doing a story about him and radio stations from all over the nation are calling him.
He and his family were picked up in a limo and taken to the Penguins-Flyers game the other night. He sat with Mario Lemieux in his suite and visited with Dan Rooney, Ben Roethlisberger and Atlanta Braves’ pitchers Tom Glavine and John Smoltz, who were in town for a series against the Pirates.
Florida Marlins’ pitcher Mark Hendrickson contacted the family and he plans on inviting them to a series in Philadelphia later this month. He has also been invited to watch a game at Fenway Park by the Boston Red Sox.
ä Dean Henderson is resigning as head coach of the Meadville High girls basketball team. He plans to watch his daughter, Abby, play next season at Penn State-Behrend.
Henderson was the coach at Meadville for the past 6 seasons. His career mark is 441-253. He coached boys hoops at Venango Christian, Saegertown and Cambridge Springs before taking the Meadville girls job.

Rob Malsom is a sports writer for The Herald

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